Composite article of manufacture



Jan 26, l937 A. w. coFFMAN COMIOSITE ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE Filed March 3l, 1936 mwzfrw (1,@

Patented Jen. 26, 1931 '2,068,975

UNITED STATES llniTlaN'l .OFFICE A amers oolurosrra nanou: or muorac'roan Alden W; Coilman, Pittsburgh, Pa., assigner to H. H. Robertson Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania .ipplieaaon Maren s1, 193s, serial No. '11,971

4 claim. lol. 154-2) This application is a continuation-impart of` cotton felts, and when so composed, the animal my copending application Serial No. 14,675, led ber is present in sumcient quantity to ensure April 4, 1935, entitled Composite article of manproper adhesion of the brous layer to the base ufacture. member.

5 This invention relates to a new article of man- Any animal bers may be used in my prOCeSS- l5v ufacture and to a novel method for making the Thus I have experienced very good results with same. camel, cattle, wool, etc. vOf course, it will be The new article comprises a, base member, understood by thOSe Skilled in thealt that the which may be metallic or non-metallic, such as animal bers herein referred to are rSt cleaned 1o black iron or steel, aluminum, brass, stainless in the customary commercial manner to remove lo steel, galvanized iron, glas's,or the like, and a the extraneous greasy and deleterious oonsiituilbrous layer composed in whole or in part of anients which normally make these bers unusable -um; ber, which .is adhesiv'ely amxed to the base for the manufacture of fibrous felts, etc.

member by -a material which is present in the While it is diicult to determined theexact nafibrous layerl in a non-adhesive condition but ture of the reaction taking place upon the alipli- 15 which is rendered adhesive by heat. cation of heat to these bers it seems likely that The new article of manufacture is capable ofthe breakdown of the ber by heat is due to the a wide range of uses in the industrial arts and decomposition or hydrolysis of the keratin concan be produced at aminimum cost and under tained in the Various bers to 8. Sticky or gluethe most favorable conditions, in that the adhelike Constituent. This change, however, linkes zo sion may be effected with the base member andy place in such a thin layer adjacent to the heated the iibrous layer in a dry condition as will be debody that it would be exceedingly diiilcult to described. v termine exactly what the "change is. It is to be The material presentin thev animal .liber of emphasized, however, that such a chance takes the nbrous layer in a normally non-adhesive conf place in the ber Aand is not due to the presence as dition or state may be converted into an adhesive of any extraneous material originally present in condition by heatderived from the base member, the unclean bers. Y which method of heating the brous layer is not While the temperatures of operation vary only economical but has ,other advantages as will quite Widely. depending' upon the nature and be described. thickness oi the base material. as well as the a0' In the accompanying drawing: thickness of the ber layer, it has `been found -Flgure 1 is-a plan view, with parts broken away, that on light sauces of steel an operating temof one form of the improved article: perature of between 425 and 475 C. is satisfac- Figure 2 is a section on an enlarged scale 'of tory. However, as herein stated, the heat thus the article shown in Figure 1, the section being applied should be carefully regulated to the end as taken on the line 2 2; and that charring of the main body o f the fibrous Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view of an appag layer willbe avoided and so that the main portion ratus with which the` improved article may be of 'the iibrous layer maintains the properties-of produced. the original brous material. 40 Referring to the drawing, I0 represents the base It has been 'ascertained that the percentage .0I 40 member and I2 the brous layer which is ailixed the animal ber should not be less than ilve per thereto by an adhesive I3, which is present in cent. the animal portion of the fibrous layer in a nor- The heat necessary to convert the normally mally non-adhesive condition.' non-adhesive material into'an adhesive material 'I'he base member'l may be of metalfsuch as should be such as to avoid charring the main 46 black iron or steel, aluminum, brass, stainless portion -of the nbrous layer and therebyavoid steel. or the like, or may be of non-metallic maweakening of the fibrous layer, the-main portionterial such as glass or the like.' ofwhich remains in itslnormal condition.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, To-this end, the heat required to convert the 59 the brous layer l2 is provided with animal fibers, material in the liber in a non-adhesive condition 60 which are normally non-adhesive but are reninto an adhesive condition may Iand preferably dered adhesive by heat. The fibrous layer I 2 may will be obtained from ythe base member itself, Y be composed of wool or other animal ber, which latter is heated to the proper or desired or it may be composed of animal and vegetable temperature before the fibrous layer is brought 5 bers, such as wool and cotton, as in commercial into contact therewith, and when the brous lay- 55 er is brought into contact with the heated metal orotherbasemembenthebrousluerandthe base member are subjected to presure.

'Ihismaybeei'iectedcommerciallyatlowcost by passing the heated base memba' and the brous layer on one or both sides of the heated base member, between suitable rolls by which the pressure is applied substantially at the point of contact of the brous layer or layers with the heated base member. and after passing through such rolls, the article tinu made is allowed to cool and will have the inner or back surface of the brous layer rmly ailixed to the base member and capable of being used as such or fabricated into other forms or shapes.

'I'his is especially true when the base member is in the form of a sheet, bar, or plate.

In Figure 3 is represented diagrammatically an apparatus with which the new article shown in Figures l and 2 may be produced. In Figure 3. the base members il are carried by an 'endless carrier 2li through a heating furnace 2l, such as an electrically heated furnace, the temperature of which can be accurately controlled in a manner well understood.

On its passage through the furnace 2|, the base member is heated to the desired temperature, and as it issues from the furnace, the heated base member ill has applied to one or both of its surfaces the brous layer or layers 22, which are taken from rolls 24, and are passed with the heated base member between pressure rolls 26, 21.

The material present in the brous layers in a normally non-adhesive condition, which in the case of commercial cotton felt is the wool ber therein, is converted by heat from the bue member into an adhesive condition, with the result that the fibrous layers are rmly ailixed to the base member.

It will be observed that the conversion of the wool fibers from a non-adhesive condition into an adhesive condition takes place on the surface of the felt which contacts with the base member. which surface may be designated the inner or back surface, and that this conversion can be controlled by regulating the heat of the base metal, so that the main portion of the felt layer may remain in its normal condition and of its normal strength.

This is particularly advantageous when the fibrous layer is a feit having its inner surface composed of wool and cotton bers and the outer surface composed of wool bers alone, in thatV the article' produced will have the felt layers iirmlyadheringtothebaaememberwhilethe outer surface will retain the normal wool characteristics.

It will also be observed that, by controlling the heat of the base mmnber, the extent to which the conversion penetrates into the brous layer from the inner side thereof may be controlled, with theresultthatthebroualayerisnot materially weakened and its outer surface retains its normal condition.

In the case of fibrous layers containing sufcient wool or other animal ber to obtain the adhesion, it will be observed that the normally non-adhesive material or substance is inherent in the structure of the fibrous layer.

It will be observed that in the making of the new article as above described, the component members of the article are in a dry condition and the use of liquids is avoided, and, therefore, the new article is made under hygienic conditions and can be produced in an economical manner.

By the use of the term break-down as employed in my claims, I intend to define and embrace an article and process of making the same wherein the fibrous layer is adhesively aiiixed to the base by an adhesive resulting from the decomposition by the heat of constituents of the animal bers in the portion of the fibrous layer adjacent the base, which constituents are inherent in the commercial forms of felts, fabrics, and the like embodying animal fiber.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. An improved article of manufacture com prising a base member and a layer of fibrous material affixed thereto, said layer of brous material being composed at least in part of animal iiber and being afiixed to the base member by a. break-down adhesive resulting from the decomposition under heat of inherent constituents of the animal ilbers in -the brous layer.

2. The process of uniting a fibrous layer containing animal ber to a base comprising heating the base to store heat therein, and then applying the brous layer containing animal fiber to the heated base under pressure, said base being heated to a temperature sumcient to effect the production of a break-down adhesive, in the portions of the fibrous layer adjacent the base, from the normally contained constituents of the animal ber.

3. As an improved article of manufacture comprising a base member and a layer of iibrous material aixed thereto, said layer of brous material being composed at least in part of wool fiber and being aixed to the base member by a break-down adhesive resulting from the decomposition under heat of inherent constituents of the wool.

4. The process of uniting a brous layer containing animal bers to a base by an adhesive inherently contained in said animal bers, which comprises the steps of applying the fibrous layer containing the animal bers to the base, and heating the portion of the brous layer adjacent the base to a suiiicient extent to render the normally non-adhesive constituents of the animal bers suiiiciently adhesive whereby to bond the same securely to said base.

ALDEN W. COFFMAN. 

